Stoker-fed furnace



Jan. 3, 1939. F E FIORD y 2,142,099

sToKER-FED FURNACE Filed Dec. 15, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1. Q4 v QN wm @n QN f. .IM W

@VEL (fuk: FJH Hulllllllllllillllhw F. E. FORD sToKER-FED FURNACE Jan. 3, 1939.

Filed Dec. 15, 1937 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Jan. 3, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 Claims.

My invention is an improvement in warm-air furnaces, and it relates more particularly to the manner of constructing a furnace in order that an apparatus such as an automatic stoker, air'- conditioner, etc., may be installed therein in a convenient manner.

It is the common practice when installing apparatus: for creating what is known as automatic heat to insert such apparatus through the ash-pit opening in the bottom at the front of the furnace. When the automatic heat apparatus is of the stoker type for burning coal as fuel a considerable proportion of such apparatus must be placed outside the furnace in order that the coal may be deposited in the storage hopper thereof. The motor for driving the feed devices also is usually outside and in front of the furnace. When this apparatus, which is usually of considerable size, is' in front of' a furnace, especially 20 a warm-air type of furnace, considerable difficulty and inconvenience is experienced in removing or attempting to remove the usual ac.- cumulation of slag, clinkers, and the other solid residue of combustion from the burner head or from the hearth surrounding such head. This is due to the fact that tongs or other tools must be inserted through an opening above the ashpit opening which theretofore had been` used to feed coal onto the grates inthe combustion chainber, and to do this it becomes necessary for the operator to reach across or lean over the Stoker apparatus in a very awkward position while using the tongs or tools. In furnaces of the warm-air type this work is especially difcult because of the fact that the furnace body or combustion chamber is spaced from the outer shell a considerable distance which requires a walled passage between the feed opening in the outer shell |and the combustion chamber in the furnace body.

In my present structure I have successfully overcome the inherent disadvantages above de scribed by providing a furnace and shell made up of a plurality of sectional units that permit interchangeability thereof, so that by placing these units in desirable arrangement the stoker apparatus may be installed or inserted in a portion of the furnace at a location other than below the opening through which the clinkers, etc., are to be removed. To this end, the furnace body comprises a plurality of superposed units all of which are disposed so that they have a common axis upon which they may be rotated during assembly, and the shell comprises a plurality of relatively wide panels with a plurality of connector members interposed between them thus permitting of a selective assembly of the panels when erecting the walls of the shell. Both the shell and the body are of' knock-down character, and the various units may be assembled Without the use of special tools and may be done by unskilled persons. v

Several of the objects of my invention are to provide a furnace body and shell that is novel in construction easy to erect or install; convenient when in use; is made of sturdy parts that will withstand severe usage; is economical to manufacture and may be sold for a reasonable price; and is made of knock-down sectional units which render it capable of assembly in a variety of ways. Other objects and advantages of my improved furnace wiil be obvious to persons skilled in this art after the construction and operation thereof is understood from the disclosurev hereinafter made. I prefer to practice my said invention substantially in the manner later described herein and as shown in the accompanying drawings that are a part ci' this specication.

Figure l shows a warm-air furnace made in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a View looking at the left side of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a horizontal section on the plane of line 3 3 of Figure l.

Figure 'i is a vertical axial section on the plane of line mi of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a plan showing the upper edges of a portion of the front panel and adjacent corner member of the furnace shell drawn to a larger scale and showing details of the joining flanges.

The drawings are to be understood as more or less schematic and are for the purpose of disclosing a typical or preferred embodiment of my invention, and for the purpose of this disclosure my invention is shown in connection with a warmair furnace. In the drawings like reference characters are used to identify like parts in the several views.

The shell is shown as cubical or three-dimensional rectanguiar and several appliances are installed on the diiferent walls to illustrate the flexibility of the knock-down sectional units thereof. The side wall at the left is provided with a doorway 5 at its bottom into which the feed throat 6 of an. automatic Stoker 'a' is inserted to position the burner-head i2 centrally in the bottom of the furnace body. An air-conditioner cabinet 9 is assembled with the side wall at the right and opposite the Stoker. The intermediate wall or panel l which shows in vertical elevation in Figure 1 has a centrally disposed opening il such as used ordinarily for feeding fuel to the combustion chamber and gratos, which opening is closed by a door l2. The doorway in an ordinary furnace is below the usual fuel opening ii in the front of the furnace, but when` an. auton matic Stoker has been installed in a front ash-pit doorway such Stoker on account of its bulky construction renders it unhandy and inconvenient to use the fuel feed opening II for access to the interior of the furnace body. By the instrumentalities of my invention the upper opening I I becomes readily accessible.

In carrying out my invention the furnace body within the shell is made of sectional units superposed upon each other so that they may be individually rotated upon a common axis as indicated in Figure 4, and all of these units have a somewhat circular or cylindrical form. The ashpit unit A at the bottom has a walled passageway A extending radially to the doorway opening in the shell, and the nre pot unit B vrests upon a circular shoulder at the top of the ash-pit unit A. The combustion chamber unit B' which is somewhat dome-shape, is seated on a circular shoulder at the top of unit B and has a walled passageway or chute B2 extending radially to the opening II in the central portion of the shell. The radiator unit C is seated on a circular shoulder at the top of combustion chamber unit B and has a walled outlet passageway C extending radially through the upper portion of the shell for discharging products of combustion into the chimney. Thus it will be seen these sectional units when being assembled, the one upon the other, may be rotated as desired to position the respective passageway A', B2 and C in any radial direction as may be seen in Figure 3 where these passageways extend to alined openings in three separate panels of the shell. The panels of the shell are interchangeable units so that the proper unit may be selected after the furnace body units have been erected.

The shell embodies a plurality of rectangular sheet-metal panel units providing the margin portions of the four walls that are spaced apart at their edges and said edges are joined to each other by connector member units which provide the co-rners of the shell. The four panels are structurally identical insofar as concerns their assembly with the connector units, except that the panels are'provided with openings, etc., at diilerent locations for co-action with a Stoker, airconditioner, and other instrumentalities.

For the purpose of convenience one panel unit and one corner connector unit will be described, it being understood such description applies generally to the other corresponding respective units. In Figure 5 I have shown details of a panel and corner connector. The panel comprises a rectangular sheet of material, preferably sheet metal, that is of heavier gauge than that of the connector units, such sheet being identified as I3 andthe margins of this sheet are provided with inturned flanges I4 that stiffen the panel. The sheet I3 forms a body portion of the panel and its vertical margins are provided with extensions I5 which consist of a narrow metal strip having one edge folded back upon itself and secured to the panel body I3 by bolts I6. At its other margin the extension is bent inwardly, substantially parallel to flange I4 to provide one of the members I1 of a channeled or V-shaped lock flange, the other wall I8 of said lock flange being formed by providing the edge of wall I1 with a reverse bend as at I9. The member IS of the lock ange is oblique to the other member I1.

The corner connector unit embodies a metal sheet 25! that is provided with a right-angular bend 2| intermediate its width to provide the corner of the shell. It will be understood the connector member need not have a rectangular bend but may be curved to provide a rounded corner for the shell. At each margin of the sheet 2U there is an inner locking flange structure, one of which is shown in Figure 5. 'This flange structure is V-shaped in cross-section and has one of its walls 22 at preferably a right angle to the adjacent portion of the corner sheet 20, and is disposed when interlocked along the side of inner wall I1 of the ilange element on the panel unit. The flange 22 just mentioned is wider than the ilange member I1 and at its free edge the iiange 22 is given a reverse bend in an oblique direction to provide the other member 23 of the interlocking flange of the corner unit. 'Ihe free margin of the oblique member 23 is provided with a rightangularly disposed stop 24 in the form of a narrow lip that extends across and is engaged by the free edge of the oblique member I8 of the other interlocking flange.

It will be seen the V-shaped interlocking members or flanges at the margins of the panel unit and the corner connector unit may be inserted the one within the other and the shoulder or stop 24 prevents relative movement between the units in directions transverse to the length of the flanges. In order to separate these units the panel, as a whole, may be raised vertically with respect to the corner unit (the interlocking Amembers acting as guides) until the bottom ends of the flanges on the panel unit have passed above the top ends of the co-acting members on the adjacent edges of the connector unit.

The above described arrangement permits the selected panel to be directed upon the side of the furnace shell that will be most desirable for the user. For example, in the assembly illustrated in Figure l, the Stoker enters the left panel, while the air-conditioning cabinet is disposed upon the opposite panel, and the panel shown in elevation contains the doorway about midway its height which had theretofore been used for feeding fuel but which in the present structure permits access to the interior of the combustion chamber. This is a convenient arrangement because a person desiring to remove clinkers, etc., may stand directly in front of the doorway Il without having to reach over for accessories such as Stoker hopper. It will be understood the panels need not be provided with the extensions I5 as disclosed, and interlocking flange members I1-I 8 may be formed integrally at the vertical edges of the panel body. Owing to the fact that the panel body I3 herein shown is made of heavy material, margins are provided with the extensions made from the small and thinner gauged metal because of its greater elasticity and its adaptability to being bent into the desired shape for the interlocking member. For all intents and purposes of the present invention the extensions l5 and the interlocking ange members Il-IB are to be considered as forming a part of the panel unit.

As shown in the drawings, I have blocked off the inside corners of the shell by means of diagonal walls 25 that have their vertical edges 28 bent to extend towards each other substantially at a right-angle and I provide these edges with angular extensions 21 by means which these walls are tted in and secured to the corners of the shell. The spaces between these walls and the shell are closed by top and bottom plates to prevent passage of air therethrough. This arrangement results in a better air-circulation and heating of air inside the shell and prevents eddying of the air in the corners of a rectangular or cubical shell.

It will be understood the principles of my invention are equally applicable to furnaces of cylindrical shape. In assembling a cylindrical shell the connectors will also act as spacers but they will not be right-angular in form as shown herein.

What I claim is:-

1. A warm-air furnace embodying a heater and a shell surrounding the same; said heater cornprising a plurality of separate annular units having a common axis, and Walled passageways disposed radially on certain of said units, said units arranged in superposed relation to each other and each unit adapted for rotative movement independent of the other units, whereby to dispose said passageways in a plurality of different positions; said shell comprising a plurality of interchangeable Wall panels of rectangular shape that are vertically disposed at an angle to each other and with their longitudinal edges spaced apart to provide corner gaps, said panels provided with openings at different horizontal planes that are adapted to be alined with certain passageways of said heater, and corner members closing said gaps and detachably connected to the proximate edges of adjacent panels.

2. A Warm-air furnace embodying a heater and a rectangular shell surrounding the same; said heater comprising a plurality of superposed annular units each independently adjustable in a horizontal plane upon an axis common to the other units; said shell comprising a plurality of interchangeable vertical wall panels of rectangular shape, said panels spaced from each other and providing the sides of said shell, and angular i corner members detachably connected to the proximate margins of adjacent panels; certain of said heater units and certain of said wall panels provided with openings adapted to be brought into radial alinement by interchanging said wall panels and by rotating said annular heater units; and walled passageways establishing communication between the alined openings.

3. A Warm-air furnace embodying a heater and a rectangular shell surrounding the same; said heater comprising a plurality of superposed annular units each independently adjustable in a horizontal plane upon an axis common to the other units; said shell comprising a plurality of interchangeable vertical wall panels of rectangular shape, said panels spaced from each other and providing the sides of said shell, angular corner members extending between the proximate edges of adjacent wall panels, and interlocking flanges at the proximate edges of said wall panels and said corner members whereby said panels and members are detachably connected; certain of said heater units and certain of said wall panels provided with openings adapted to be brought into radial alinement by interchanging said wall panels and by rotating said annular heater units; and Walled passageways establishing communicatio-n between the alined openings.

4. A warm-air furnace embodying a heater and a shell surrounding the same; said heater comprising a plurality of superposed annular units each independently adjustable in a horizontal plane upon an axis common to the other units; said shell comprising a plurality of interchangeable vertical wall units, inwardly disposed channel-shaped flanges on the longitudinal edges of said Wall units, and means detachably connecting adjacent edges of said wall units, said means each lconsisting of a vertical metal strip of angular cross-section, and inwardly disposed channel-shaped ilanges on the longitudinal edges of said strip that are detachably engaged with the flanges at the proximate edges of adjacent Wall units; and walled passageways establishing communication between selectively alined openings in said heater units and shell wall units.

5. A Warm-air furnace embodying a heater body comprising a plurality of superposed annular units having a common axis and adapted for separate rotative adjustment independent of each other, and radially disposed walled passageways on certain of said units; in combination with a rectangular shell surrounding said heater body, said shell comprising a plurality of upright panels disposed at angles to each other and spaced apart at their vertical edges to provide elongated gaps between adjacent vertical margins of said panels, certain of said panels formed with openings adapted to be selectively registered with certain of said passageways, elongated corner members of angular cross-section disposed vertically in said gaps to close the latter, and means along the proximate edges. of said panels and said angular corner members for connecting said panels and members.

6. A warm-air furnace embodying a heater body comprising a plurality of superposed annular units having a common axis and adapted for separate rotative adjustment independent of each other, and radially disposed walled passageways Aon certain of said units; in combination with a rectangular shell surrounding said heater body, said shell comprising a plurality of upright panels disposed at angles to each other and spaced apart at their vertical edges to provide elongated gaps between adjacent vertical margins of said panels, certain of said panels formed with openings adapted to be selectively registered with certain of said passageways, elongated corner members of angular cross-section disposed vertically in said gaps to close the latter, means along the proximate edges of said panels and said angular corner members for connecting said panels and members, and oblique plates extending diagonally across the inner portions of the corners of said shell whereby to prevent eddying of air-currents at the corners of the shell.

7. A warm-air furnace embodying a heater body comprising a plurality of superposed annular units having a common axis and adapted for separate rotative adjustment independent of each other, and radially disposed walled passageways on certain of said units; in combination with a rectangular shell surrounding said heater body, said shell comprising a plurality of upright panels disposed at angles to each other and spaced apart at their vertical edges to provide elongated gaps between adjacent vertical margins of said panels, certain of said panels formed with o-penings adapted to be selectively registered with certain of said passageways, elongated corner members of angular cross-section disposed vertically in said gaps to close the latter, and interlocking seam elements along the vertical longitudinal edges of said panels and angular corner members, said seam elements adapted to detachably connect said panels and corner members to provide a continuous shell around said furnace body.

FRANK E. FORD. 

